Independent Candidate Ken Block Says His "Political Moment" Has Arrived

​Ken Block, the independent candidate for governor of Rhode Island, believes voters are ready for something different — and recent polling suggests he may be right.
In an interview with the Rhode Island Wave, Block said his campaign has gained unexpected momentum without heavy spending. "We haven't spent $200,000 on a gubernatorial campaign this year yet," he said. "We just ran a poll, and in a head-to-head with Helena Foulkes, I win by six points."
Block, who was named Man of the Year by GoLocal Providence earlier this year before entering the race, said his rise reflects a broader frustration with politics as usual. "This is my political moment without a question," he said, pointing to the state's high-profile infrastructure failures and national dissatisfaction with partisan gridlock. "Between the bridge breaking, politics in this state, [and] the national unhappiness with what the two political parties are doing — mostly attacking each other, not really dealing with the issues people care about — I'm focused on dealing with the problems that Rhode Island has, that in a great many ways are operational in nature."
Rather than campaigning on ideology, Block frames himself as a manager focused on results. "We have things — we spend plenty of money, but we're not getting the results that we want," he said. "We need a detail-oriented governor, someone who's not ideological but is going to tackle each of the problems on the merit."
Auditing State Spending
Central to Block's pitch is a promise to scrutinize how Rhode Island spends its $15.2 billion budget, including roughly $5 billion allocated to Medicaid. He said that despite consulting numerous current and former government officials, no one could tell him with certainty how much of that money is being spent.
Block pointed to the Auditor General's annual report as evidence of a persistent, unaddressed problem. "Every year, the Auditor General says that we found $100 million to a quarter billion dollars of spending just in the Department of Human Services, Health and Human Services," he said. "It's the same issue year after year after year. It never gets fixed."
If elected, Block said he would sign an executive order on his first day in office requiring every department head to review the Auditor General's findings within a week and account for any unresolved issues. "I'm going to insist that in most cases, we fix what's broken in that report within a few months of taking office," he said. "How can you justify wasting a quarter billion dollars year over year over year?"
A Weekly Press Conference
Block also pledged to increase transparency by holding a weekly press conference — a practice he said has been largely absent from the governor's office in recent years. "I'm going to tell everybody what we found the week before, the problems that we've uncovered," he said. "If things are a little sticky between me and the General Assembly, I will air it out and talk about it and use the bully pulpit."
Long-Term Challenges
Asked about the state's more entrenched problems, Block acknowledged that some issues — like breaking cycles of poverty tied to underperforming urban school systems — will take years to resolve. "This isn't a problem you can fix in a year," he said. "It's going to take years to get it fixed and see the fruits of the labor, but we have to start, and we aren't even there. I'm going to get it started."
Block was careful to frame Rhode Island's struggles as solvable, noting that many other states have already addressed similar challenges. "We don't have an unknown solution to our problems," he said. "All we are lacking is the political courage necessary in the governor's office to run right at those problems and not stop until we get them fixed."
Election Details
Block will face Democrat Helena Foulkes and Republican Aaron Guckian in the general election. Rhode Island voters must be registered by early October to participate, roughly 30 days before Election Day. Voters can find more information about Block's campaign, including volunteer opportunities and yard signs, at blockforgovernor.com.
"If you're not happy with the way things are going, you've got to vote differently," Block said. "If you don't vote at all, you're part of the problem."